Kent Driscoll
Northern News Services

Clyde River (July 25/05) - Inuit legend is full of tales about people that are no longer seen. There are short people, tall people, but the most fascinating may be the shadow people.

The shadow people are a reflection of Inuit people, having many of the same characteristics, but are different in many ways.

Shadow people are connected to the community they reflect.

In Clyde River, when the residents get new equipment, the shadow people get new equipment. They live in two camps outside Clyde River.

Nauya Tassugat, who died July 16, was an expert on these folk. He even married two of them. Tassugat's father died when he was a teenager and he spent many days on the land alone. There he learned to see these elusive people, and became a part of their community.

He told stories about living among them and had a daughter with one of his shadow people wives, who looks just like one of his daughter Rebecca Panipak (sr) in Clyde River.

Peter Iqalukjuak spent many hours listening to Tassugat.

"He (Tassugat) was concerned that people would misunderstand the shadow people. Most of the elders believe they are good and most of the elders have seen them," said Iqalukjuak.

Clyde River elder Idah Palluq explains, through Iqalukjuak's translations, that when the southern people arrived, the Inuit were discouraged from believing in the shadow people.

'Good neighbours'

"When the southern people came North, they said the shadow people were bad people. The elders know that they are just like normal people. They are good neighbours, you just have to know them," she said.

They exist outside the perception of most people, and cannot be seen head on. Your best chance of seeing a one is out of the corner of your eye. Palluq has never seen one, but has heard them at night.

If you are in trouble on the land, you want to meet the shadow people. They are expert hunters and have a reputation for helping before you have to ask for it.

Just like the residents of Clyde River, the shadow people have televisions, snowmobiles and even a telescope that can see through mountains, according to Tassugat's stories.

They are just one step ahead of the residents of Clyde River. When the community relocated across the river, the shadow people had moved before them.

Iqalukjuak passed on the tale of when Tassugat went to church in the shadow peoples' community.

Their church and service were identical to the one in Clyde River, with a major exception.

In the front of the church, there was a giant screen with a black dot on it. The minister would tell the people their sins, and if they admitted the sin, the dot would disappear. If they didn't own up to their misdeeds, the dot would stay in place.